If the politicians won't take the lead in tackling global warming, then perhaps universities should step into the breach.

So says deputy vice-chancellor Professor Jo Beall, who recently returned from South Korea where she joined a band of African and Asian universities at the first University Presidents' Forum on Climate Change & Sustainable Development in Asia & Africa, held at South Korea University in Seoul.

On behalf of UCT, Beall also signed The Seoul Declaration on Climate Change & Sustainable Development in Asia and Africa, which commits the 12 signatories - UCT was one of two universities representing Sub-Saharan Africa - to form a "network for research and education" to address these twin issues.

If there was one sentiment that underpinned the meeting, it's that countries on the two continents have much in common, reports Beall. Both are pushing ambitious development programmes, which raises immediate environmental concerns.

"No issue is more central to economic growth and development," said Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations, in his keynote address to the forum. "No issue is more vital to the wellbeing of billions of people, particularly in the poorest countries of the world."